Buckle



(No Model.)

D. L. SMITH. BUUKLB.

No. 450,432. Patnte'd Apr. 14, 1891'.

vUNITED STATES DWVIGHT L. SMITH, OF VVATERBURY, CONNEOTICUT.

BUCKLE.

SE'ECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 450,432, dated April 14, 1891.

Application filed February 3, 1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DWIGHT L. SMITH, of \Vaterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement in Buckles; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying'drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and

which said drawings constitute part of this,

specification, and represent, in-

Figure 1, a front view of the buckle with the plate in the closed position; Fig. 2, a front view with the plate in the raised position; Fig. 3, an end view of the buckle with the plate in the closed position; Fig. 4, a vertical section showing the plate in the closed position; Fig. 5, a vertical section showing the plate in the raised position; Fig. 6, a detached view of the lower side of the frame, showing the construction for hinging the finger to the said frame, Figs. 4, 5, and 6, enlarged; Fig. 7, a side view, and Fig. S a front view of a modified form of buckle.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of buckles designed for suspenders, and in which the frame of the buckle is made from wire, having a depending hook from one side, and particularly to that class in which a stationary jaw is arranged longitudinally across the frame, with a plate or flap hinged to the bar above the said edge and so as to swing down toward the hook as a means for clamping the suspender upon the said jaw, the object of the invention being a simple device for locking the said plate in the closed position; and the invention consists in the construction, as hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claims.

The frame is made of wire and composed of an upper side A and lower side B, connected by two ends C O. The wire of the lower side Bis bent so as to form a depending hook D, common in this class of buckles.

E represents a metal bar, which is connected lat each end with the ends O O of the frame,

so as to be permanently attached thereto. Its upper edge is turned forward to form a jaw F.

To the upper side A of the frame a flat plate G is hinged so as to swing down and forward of the jaw F, as seen in Fig. 4, or be turned Serial No. 879,993. (No model.)

upward therefrom, as seen in Fig. 5, and so that when the suspender or strap is passed forward over the jaw F and downward back through the frame below the jaw F the plate G can be brought down upon the outside of the strap and will grasp the strap between the said jaw and the plate.

To hold the jaw with sufficient force to insure the proper engagement of the strap, some looking device for the plate G in its 'downfposition is necessary. To this end I hinge to the lower side B of the frame a finger H, which is preferably of U shape, as seen in Fig. 1, so that when turned down it may pass over depending hook D, as represented in Figs. 1 and 4. At the hinged end of this finger it is hook-shaped, as at I. The finger is hinged to the side B, so that it may be turned up, as seen in Fig. 5, away from the hook D, or turned down over the hook D, as seen in Fig. 4. At the lower edge of the plate G is an opening J which corresponds to the finger H, and so that the finger may pass through that opening. To engage the finger H with the plate G, the finger H is turned up, as seen in Fig. 5, to bring its end into the path of the descending plate. The plate is then turned down, the free end of the finger passing through the opening J, as represented in broken lines, Fig. 5. The plate is then pressed down, as seen in broken lines, Fig. 4, which turns the finger downward to some extent. Then the finger is pressed to its down position and over the hook D, as seen in Fig. 4, which brings the edge of the plate into the hook I of the finger, as seen in Fig. 4.

To strengthen the edge of the plate and give convenient bearing for thefinger, a wire K is introduced into the lower edge of the plate, which forms the lower side of the opening J when the plate is turned down, and over which Wire the tongue will operate as a lever, and so as to firmly draw theplate G into engagement with'the jaw F, the finger passing down over the depending hook, so that the loop of the suspender-end will pass into the hook forward of the finger, and thus serve to hold the finger in its down or locked position. To conveniently hinge the finger to the side B of the frame, that side has a depression formed therein through the central portion,

IOO

and the two ends of the tongue are turned outward horizontally, as seen in Fig. 6, so as to stand in this depression in the side B. Then a sheet-metal clip L is closed around that part of the bar and the ends of the tongue, so that the tongue thus applied becomes a re-enforce or strengthening device for that side of the frame.

While I prefer to make the finger H as a device in addition to the hook, the finger may itself form the hook, as represnted in Figs. 7 and S, in which case the hook formed as a part of the body, as in the first illustrations, is omitted, and instead of making the plate G of sheet metal, as described, it may also be made of Wire, as represented in Figs. 7 and 8. The operation of the plate is the same in one case as the other. I therefore do not wish to be understood as limiting the invention to the formation of the finger as dependent upon the hook as a part of the frame, or to any specific construction of the plate further than that the plate be hinged to the frame above the fixed jaw and provided below the j aw with an opening through which the finger may op-.

erate, as described.

I claimi 1. In a buckle consisting ofa fra1ne,ajaw

longitudinally across said frame between its l upper and lower sides, the frame constructed with a depending hook from its lower side, a 1

plate hinged to the frame above the jaw and adapted to turn down in front of the ja-w, the

said plate constructed With an opening at its lower edge, and a finger hinged below the jaw and adapted to pass through the said opening in the plate when the plate is in the down position and to be turned down over the depending hook, substantially as described, the said finger being adapted to lock the plate in its down position.

2. A buckle-frame made from Wire, composed of an upper and lower side connected by two ends, the lower side bent to form a central depression, with a hook depending from the said depression, a finger made from wire of U shape, its two ends turned to the right and left and arranged in the said depression of the lower side, With a clip inclosing the said ends of the finger and the said depressed portion of the side of the frame, Whereby the said finger is hinged to said side, ajaw longitudinally across the frame, and a plate hinged to the frame above said jaw and adapted to turn down in front of the jaw, the said plate constructed with an opening corresponding to and through which the said finger is adapted to pass, substantially as described.

In testimony Whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DWIGHT l.. SMITH.

Witnesses:

FRED C. EARLE, LILLIAN D. KELsEY. 

